BILL#: SEN-10-18
TITLE: A Bill to Increase Expediency of Executive Decisions
SPONSOR: Jake Tidwell, Off-Campus Senator (jtidwe14@vols.utk.edu)
Owen Flomberg, East Area Senator (oflomber@vols.utk.edu)
DATE: 8 October 2018
Whereas, there is no current clause requiring any sort of timetable regarding passed legislation
from First Year Council or the Undergraduate Student Senate being signed or vetoed by the Executive Branch of the Student Government Association (SGA),
Whereas, this makes it viable that a bill that is disagreeable to the SGA executive branch may
be delayed indefinitely without being formally vetoed,
Whereas, it is important that legislation that is passed through the First Year Council and/or the
Undergraduate Student Senate is understood to have the backing of the majority of the students on this campus,
Be it hereby resolved that the Constitution of the Student Government Association be amended
to add the following clause:
“All bills, resolutions, and declarations that pass with the requisite majority vote through the First Year Council and/or the Undergraduate Student Senate shall be taken action upon by the SGA executive by either signing or vetoing the legislation within 72 hours of the conclusion of the respective session in which it was passed”
Be it further resolved that the following will be added as a subsection (a) of the previous clause:
“If a bill, resolution, or declaration is not acted upon within 72 hours of the conclusion of the session in which it was passed, then it is automatically vetoed and sent back to the respective body which originally passed the legislation”
Be it further resolved that the following will be added as another subsection (b) below the original clause:
“If a bill, resolution, or declaration is vetoed by the SGA executive, regardless of it was their decision or their inactivity, it is the responsibility of the executive branch to address the respective body at their next regularly scheduled meeting in order to detail the reasons the legislation was vetoed”
Be it further resolved that this amendment will be added as a new section in Article IV (Student
Senate). This section will be Section 7.
Be it further resolved that:
“Section 7. The election of Senators shall be conducted according to the regulations set
forth by the SGA Election Rules and Procedures, as adopted by the Student Senate.”
be amended to read:
“Section 8. The election of Senators shall be conducted according to the regulations set
forth by the SGA Election Rules and Procedures, as adopted by the Student Senate.”
Be it further resolved that:
“Section 8. The removal of any Senator shall be conducted as outlined in the Student
Senate Bylaws.”
be amended to read:
“Section 9. The removal of any Senator shall be conducted as outlined in the Student
Senate Bylaws.”
Be it further resolved that the followed be added as Section 11 under Article VII (First Year Council):
“All bills, resolutions, and declarations passed through First-Year Council, if necessary, will be sent to the Undergraduate Student Senate and follow the same sign/veto procedure outlined in Article IV Section 7”
Appendix A